I've sampled the local liquor (Rakı) and decided I wasn't missing much. It is an interesting discussion topic, though. The whole problem with successfully merging the best qualities of Eastern and Western culture in Turkey can be pretty well summed up with alcohol.
There are cultures that approve of, celebrate, and may in fact revolve around drinking (such as eastern Europe) and there are cultures that more or less forbid it (such as the Arabian Peninsula). Geographically bisecting these two cultures is Turkey, and more specifically Istanbul, which makes for some interesting contradictions.
Beer isn't exactly flowing in the streets of Istanbul, but enough Turks are drinking (and drinking copiously) that it's clear they've found their own interpretation of the 'don't drink alcohol' aspect of Islam. This has been watered down in various ways, the most entertaining that I've seen so far being a Turk living in our building waiting to take a shot of vodka until the evening call to prayer was finished, but continuing to drink beer throughout.
On the other end of the spectrum, AKP, the mildly Islamist party currently in power, has put relatively heavy taxes on alcohol and recently introduced a law banning the sale of alcoholic drinks outside of their original containers. Granted this isn't as extreme as the Egyptian hotel that recently dumped all of its alcohol into the Nile.
An old man I spoke with on the street complained about being unable to find anything to drink besides alcohol (which he hates and refuses to drink) during his trip to Romania. This isn't exactly the other end of the planet that he was visiting.
Romania's slightly more than a hop, skip, and jump away from Istanbul. Obviously Iran is right on the other side. Loathe as I am to bring up Huntingdon, if there was a fault line between civilizations, Turkey would be sitting right on top of it. Half of the country wants to be Western and drinking and half of the country wants to be Eastern and sober. How does this end satisfactorily for everyone?
I have no idea.
There are cultures that approve of, celebrate, and may in fact revolve around drinking (such as eastern Europe) and there are cultures that more or less forbid it (such as the Arabian Peninsula). Geographically bisecting these two cultures is Turkey, and more specifically Istanbul, which makes for some interesting contradictions.
Beer isn't exactly flowing in the streets of Istanbul, but enough Turks are drinking (and drinking copiously) that it's clear they've found their own interpretation of the 'don't drink alcohol' aspect of Islam. This has been watered down in various ways, the most entertaining that I've seen so far being a Turk living in our building waiting to take a shot of vodka until the evening call to prayer was finished, but continuing to drink beer throughout.
On the other end of the spectrum, AKP, the mildly Islamist party currently in power, has put relatively heavy taxes on alcohol and recently introduced a law banning the sale of alcoholic drinks outside of their original containers. Granted this isn't as extreme as the Egyptian hotel that recently dumped all of its alcohol into the Nile.
An old man I spoke with on the street complained about being unable to find anything to drink besides alcohol (which he hates and refuses to drink) during his trip to Romania. This isn't exactly the other end of the planet that he was visiting.
Romania's slightly more than a hop, skip, and jump away from Istanbul. Obviously Iran is right on the other side. Loathe as I am to bring up Huntingdon, if there was a fault line between civilizations, Turkey would be sitting right on top of it. Half of the country wants to be Western and drinking and half of the country wants to be Eastern and sober. How does this end satisfactorily for everyone?
I have no idea.
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